Reliant Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in The Kroger Co. $KR

Reliant Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. IFC Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc raised its holdings in Kroger by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Cairn Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the second quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 58,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,225,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% during the second quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.4%

KR opened at $68.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.60 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. Kroger’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on KR. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Roth Capital raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Argus set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.50.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.